You break the law, you pay

Safety first: Loke launching the road safety campaign at AEON Mall Nilai. — Bernama

NILAI: There will be no discounts for compounds issued by the Road Transport Department (JPJ) during the Hari Raya season, says Transport Minister Anthony Loke.

He said the compounds were issued for offences such as beating the red light, overtaking on double lines, using a mobile phone while driving, cutting queues, not wearing the safety belt, driving in the emergency lane and hogging the right lane.

“Our intention is not to make their lives miserable but we need to send the message across that we are serious about road safety and reducing fatalities.

“If you look at the statistics, many accidents are caused by negligence.

“We want to educate motorists on the importance of obeying traffic laws,” he said after launching a road safety campaign in conjunction with Hari Raya Aidilfitri.

The campaign, which began yesterday, will end on June 13.

Also present at the event was Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Abdul Hamid Bador.

Loke said the issue of getting a discount would not arise if all motorists obeyed traffic laws.

He said 548,598 accidents were reported last year.

In the first three months of this year, the number of cases stood at 133,912.

There were 6,284 road fatalities last year, which was lower than the 6,740 cases reported in 2017.

In the first three months of this year, 1,483 people were killed on Malaysian roads.

He said the number of accidents during this year’s Chinese New Year period also fell from the 21,041 cases registered last year to 20,829.“Although the number of road fatalities during the two-week period also fell from 208 to 197, the numbers are still very high.

“We need to work harder to bring this down,” he said.

Loke urged the police and JPJ to increase their enforcement on federal, town and rural roads during the Hari Raya period.

This, he said, was necessary as most accidents were reported along these stretches instead of on the expressways.

“It is my hope that this will be done with more focus on motorcyclists as they are involved in 63% of all fatal accidents.

“This is also important as many motorcyclists, especially in smaller towns, do not wear helmets,” he said.

Loke said an estimated 35% of all motorcyclists did not wear helmets while they were on the road.

Separately, he said heavy vehicles would not be allowed to be on the road on June 1, 2, 3, 8 and 9 to reduce the risk of accidents during the balik kampung rush.- Star